the_radiofandomcom-20200214-history
WREY
| callsign_meaning = W''' (Radio) '''Rey | former_callsigns = WCOW (1951-1957) WISK (1957-1959) KDWB (1959-1991) WDGY (1991-2008) | owner = Borgen Broadcasting | licensee = | sister_stations = WDGY | webcast = | website = radiorey630am.com | affiliations = }} WREY (630 kHz AM, "Radio Rey") is a Spanish-language radio station with studios located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is licensed to Saint Paul, Minnesota, although it was licensed to Hudson, Wisconsin from 1997 to 2005. It is a full market coverage radio station of Minneapolis/St.Paul. The Transmitters are currently located on several radio towers in the outside suburb of Woodbury, along South Washington County Highway 19. History The 630 kHz frequency is perhaps best known as the longtime home of KDWB, from 1959 until 1986. For almost two decades, they were a heated rival of the original WDGY, located at 1130 kHz. When WDGY dropped their call letters to become KFAN in 1991, KDWB's owner adopted the abandoned WDGY call sign for 630 kHz, where they remained until 2008. Early history The frequency signed on in 1951, at 1590 kHz. It began as a collaboration between three brothers who named it WCOW, which was an odd station playing country and old-time music. In the early days, WCOW signed on with a cowbell. Vic, Nick, and Al Tedesco, who had previously put together a station in Stillwater, Minnesota, attempted to get into television on channel 17 the next year, but financial backing fell through. The channel 17 allocation was taken by Twin Cities Public Television in 1965. 63 KDWB WCOW was not very successful, so the station transitioned to a female-oriented format with the call sign WISK in 1957, and the frequency was changed to 630 kHz the next year. This format was also unsuccessful, so they tried a pop/rock format, that was also unsuccessful. The station was soon sold to Crowell-Collier Broadcasting Company, who owned KFWB and KEWB in California. The top 40 format of those stations was brought to Minnesota as the new KDWB was launched on October 1, 1959.http://www.slphistory.org/history/radio.asp It quickly became a major competitor to WDGY, which had been playing a pop music format for a few years by that point. With the 630 kHz frequency, KDWB called itself "Channel 63" and the station began its long uninterrupted run as a pop music station. KDWB and WDGY were fierce rivals throughout the 1960s and 1970s. During the 1970s, both stations gained even more competition, as KSTP and WYOO (U100) picked up the format. In 1976, Doubleday Broadcasting, then owner of KDWB, desired to purchase a station on the rapidly growing FM dial. They found a willing seller in the owner of U100, which at the time was the only Top 40 station simulcasting on both AM and FM. In February 1976, Doubleday announced it would purchase 101.3 MHz, with the intention of simulcasting KDWB. On September 16, 1976, with the sale official, KDWB signed on their FM simulcast with morning personality Dave Thompson at 6 AM (with a promo recorded by True Don Bleu). A few years later, their Top 40 rivals gradually dropped out of the format. U100 was gone in the sale of their two stations. WDGY flipped to country music in September 1977; KSTP began to lean adult top 40 during the late 1970s and slowly evolved into its longtime news/talk format by the early 1980s. By the end of the decade, KDWB was the only ongoing Top 40 station in town. With the active competition gone, KDWB-FM split apart from the AM station's Top 40 simulcast in September 1979 and became a pop/rock hybrid as "K101." K101 soon morphed into "Stereo 101," an album oriented rock station designed to go up against KQRS-FM, which had recently dumped their free-form rock presentation and adopted a stricter playlist. "Stereo 101" proved to be mildly successful, even topping KQRS in the ratings several times. During the four year run of Stereo 101, new Top 40 stations began appearing on the FM dial, first with WLOL in December 1981, which quickly became one of the most successful stations in the market and later an attempt by WCCO-FM, which was not nearly as successful. Both moves crippled 63 KDWB's longtime dominance of the format, since they were at a disadvantage against more powerful FM stereo signals. The massive top three ratings success of WLOL, combined with rapidly falling ratings for the AM station, resulted in Stereo 101 ditching AOR in early 1984 and returning to Top 40 as "KDWB FM 101", this time as the dominant station in the AM/FM combo. Over the next two years, both stations aired similar formats and continued to simulcast from time to time, until the AM station split off on its own early in 1986 with an automated syndicated oldies format from Unistar as "K63", meeting with mild success. 630 AM becomes WDGY, goes dark, returns In 1991, 630 AM picked up the WDGY call letters after 1130 AM abandoned them to become KFAN. The new WDGY adopted a classic country music format, similar to what had been aired on 1130 kHz throughout the 1980s. Ratings for the country format did not meet up to expectations, and in September 1992, they temporarily returned to a simulcast with KDWB (The legal ID at the top of the hour identified both KDWB and WDGY, and Arbitron listed them as KDWB/WDGY). WDGY switched to an adult standards format in March 1993, which gave it a respectable boost in ratings. As Midcontinent Media, then owner of KDWB, were looking to sell WDGY, the owner of WMIN, Borgen Broadcasting, agreed to lease the station through a local marketing agreement. This did not last long, as Midcontinent decided to sell and commercially redevelop the property in Woodbury that was home to the station's six-tower array. Hence, on April 18, 1994, with no transmission facility available and demand for AM radio very low, 630 kHz went dark. The owner of WMIN bought the silent WDGY in October 1996, as plans were made to return the station to the air. WDGY returned in January 1997 as a Hudson, Wisconsin-based entity with a new owner and the same call letters, airing a talk radio format that featured hosts like Don Imus, G. Gordon Liddy and Don and Mike, with oldies from 6 PM to 6 AM. In February, 1998, syndicated sports talk replaced oldies during those hours. Radio Rey A group of local Hispanic broadcasters had leased weekend time on WMIN for several years as "Radio Rey." On January 1, 1999, WMIN went full-time Radio Rey, broadcasting from a grocery store on the west side of St. Paul. Radio Rey flipped back and forth between WMIN and WDGY for several years before finally settling on WDGY for good in July 2001. For most of 2005, WMIN ran a complementary regional Mexican format, "La Nueva Ley," also programmed by the Radio Rey group. WDGY eventually secured a transmitter site closer to the heart of the metro area, which allowed it to boost its power and change its city of license back to Saint Paul by the end of 2005. Call letter change to WREY In August 2008, Radio Rey changed its call letters from WDGY to WREY. Subsequently, sister station WMIN, a True Oldies Channel affiliate at 740 AM, changed its call letters to WDGY. The WREY call sign has been used on other stations in the past, most recently on what is now WMVB in Millville, New Jersey. References External links *Radio Rey 630 AM * *Radiotapes.com Historic Minneapolis/St. Paul airchecks dating back to 1924 including WDGY and other Twin Cities radio stations. *TwinCitiesRadioAirchecks.com feature many 1970's radio airchecks, including the old WDGY. There are also old photos of the WDGY studios in Bloomington MN. *Oldiesloon.com, featuring information about former Twin Cities Top 40 stations *The Airheads Radio Survey Archive for 63 KDWB Category:Radio stations in Minnesota Category:Regional Mexican radio stations